All articles tagged with #solar conjunction
NASA's MAVEN orbiter, studying Mars' upper atmosphere, went offline on December 6 and NASA now says recovery is very unlikely as it appears to be rotating unexpectedly; a Martian solar-conjunction window ending around January 16 could offer one last chance to reestablish contact, though the agency notes that other Mars spacecraft can still relay communications to Earth.
The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS will be behind the Sun during its solar conjunction on October 21, 2025, making it unobservable from Earth, but this period coincides with a potential optimal time for an Oberth maneuver, raising questions about whether its trajectory was intentionally designed or if it is a natural comet. The object exhibits several anomalies that suggest it could be more than just a natural object, prompting further observation in the coming months to determine its true nature.
NASA has suspended all Mars missions from November 11 to November 25 due to solar conjunction, where the Sun lies directly between Earth and Mars, causing potential disruption to radio commands. While communication will be limited, the Martian rovers, satellites, and helicopter will continue their pre-planned scientific objectives and send health checks during this period. The distance between Earth and Mars during solar conjunction increases to about 235 million miles, making communication challenging. However, NASA's robotic missions will resume normal operations after the two-week hiatus.
NASA has temporarily paused all Mars missions due to a solar conjunction event, where Mars passes to the opposite side of the sun from Earth. This event occurs every two Earth years and causes a communication blackout between Earth and Mars. During this time, mission controllers lose contact with robotic Mars missions, including the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, the Ingenuity helicopter, and spacecraft in orbit. The pause allows for the prevention of any interference with the operations of the robots or spacecraft. Signals to Mars will resume on November 25, and Mars missions will continue to gather data during this period.
NASA, along with other space agencies, has temporarily lost contact with its fleet of spacecraft at Mars due to the solar conjunction, where Mars is on the opposite side of the sun from Earth. This blackout period, lasting for about a week, hampers communication due to the interference of radio signals by the sun's corona. However, the spacecraft will continue to operate autonomously, and essential health check messages can be exchanged after the closest pass of the sun and Mars. The blackout is expected to end by November 25, allowing direct radio communications to be re-established.
NASA has temporarily halted sending commands to its Mars-exploring robots due to a Mars solar conjunction, a two-week period when Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the sun. This precaution is taken to avoid potential corruption of radio signals from Earth to the spacecraft. However, the robots will continue to perform some tasks during this time, such as monitoring surface conditions, weather, radiation, and studying the movement of sand. The Mars orbiters will also continue their observations. This is a routine occurrence, and most of the robots have experienced conjunctions before.
NASA will be unable to communicate with its Mars robots for two weeks due to a phenomenon called solar conjunction, where the sun is directly in the way of communication between Earth and Mars. This interruption in communication will affect the operations and data collection of the robots during this period.
NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter completed its 65th and 66th flights on the Red Planet, with short hops to prepare for the upcoming Mars solar conjunction. These flights positioned the helicopter for the two-week period when ground control will be paused due to radio signal interference caused by the sun blocking communication between Earth and Mars. The solar conjunction will last from November 11 to November 25, during which engineers will send two weeks' worth of instructions to the helicopter and wait. Ingenuity has successfully demonstrated powered flight on Mars and is now serving as a scout for NASA's Perseverance rover.